Story of Nreelia
by FlightofSilver
Summary: The story of a girl from Madren Town and her loyal brother. Just publishing for the heck of it, you don't have to like it.
1. The Voice

Sorry to everyone who's reading my other stories and thinking I should work on those instead of starting a new one. I just found this old story on my computer and thought, "Ah, what the heck." I started this at least two years ago, so it's not so well-written.

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Chapter 1: The Voice

In a faraway world called Madrigal, on the island of Flaris, a twelve-year-old girl named Nreelia stood on the peak of a rocky hill overlooking the town called Flarine below. She had always preferred looking from a distance to actually being in the town; that place was much too crowded for her comfort. But the rest of Flaris was beautiful. She didn't think she ever wanted to leave it. No way. Flaris was her home.

As a strong breeze swept over the mountain, she heard a low hissing voice behind her, seeming to blend in with the wind. "Yesssss, you are the one."

She gasped and spun around, scanning the mountains behind her.

Not even a shadow.

Nreelia frowned, feeling unnerved. The next minute, she was racing down the mountainside, toward Madren Town.

* * *

There, a boy a little older than Nreelia was battling a Demian. The little monster was armed with two sharp knives, but the youth was better armed with a long, curved sword and quickly defeated his opponent.

"Moonstrike! Moonstrike!

Moonstrike turned and saw his sister Nreelia running across the bridge. "What is it?" he asked as she reached and pounded to a stop.

Nreelia bent over and gasped for breath. "I…heard something…on a hill. When I looked, there…wasn't anything there…so I ran…the whole way back to tell you."

She stood up straight and looked at her brother, waiting for his response and fiddling with her dark braid, weaving the end through her fingers. Moonstrike thought about it carefully.

"I think you were hearing things, Nreelia," he told her finally. Nreelia's braid dropped onto her shoulder as she stared at him in disbelief. She'd run all the way here for _that? _

"No, really, I know I heard something! I heard a voice behind me say 'you are the one' and when I turned around, no one was there. It sounded really creepy, too."

He sighed. "I think it was your mind running away with you. Just forget about it, okay?" He reached and patted her shoulder comfortingly.

Nreelia scowled, shook off his hand, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Just because I'm younger doesn't mean you can treat me like I'm barely an infant. I'm obviously not! And all that's easy for you to say! You only ever hear the noise a Demian makes when you hit it!"

With that, she turned on her heel and stalked toward their house. Moonstrike just sighed and turned to attack another Demian. Completely unnoticed by both of them in the shadow of a nearby mountain, a dark being chuckled to himself.

"It won't be long now. Not long at all."

* * *

Yep, creepy stuff. Next chapter is coming in a few days.


	2. Kidnapped!

This chapter is longer and it gets interesting. Thanks to levelupluigi and Alex999139 for paying attention to this story.

Disclaimer: I don't own FlyFF, though I do somewhat own Nreelia.

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Chapter 2: Kidnapped!

The next day, Moonstrike led Nreelia over a small mountain, which Nreelia thought looked too much like the place where she had heard the voice, but kept quiet. Up ahead, her brother stopped.

"Here we are."

Nreelia looked around.

They were standing in view of the sea. She didn't see what was so great about that. Moonstrike reached into his pocket and pulled out a colorful little egg. He held it out to his sister, smiling.

"Here," he said. "I think this little guy likes you better than me. He's yours if you want him." The egg hopped up and down in his hands. Nreelia's eyes widened.

"I'll take him!" she exclaimed. "Thank you!" She cupped her hands to make a cradle and held them out. The egg hopped into her hands and rested there. Nreelia bounced on her toes happily while Moonstrike grinned.

"Oh, how touching."

They both turned toward the voice. The speaker was a horribly forbidding figure. He was easily a foot taller than Moonstrike and wore a dark robe with a large hood that cast a shadow over his face. As he drew closer, he raised a hand with claw-like nails and pulled the hood back to reveal a scaly and sinister face with brightly glowing yellow eyes that sent a long, cold needle of fear into the spines of the brother and sister, and the egg in Nreelia's hands shivered.

Nreelia felt a chill as she realized she was looking at the one who had spoken to her yesterday. He smiled at her, revealing sharp teeth that did not belong in a human's mouth. He reached a hand toward her as if to beckon her, and she realized that his nails really _were_ claws. She covered her egg with her hands and took a step behind her brother.

"You do not need to be afraid," the creature rasped. "I want you to come with me."

Moonstrike yanked his sword out of his belt. He glared at the stranger. "She doesn't want to go with you. Leave her alone."

The stranger's lips twisted downward into a snarl. "Thisss has nothing to do with you, boy. Ssstand aside and let her make her own choice."

Moonstrike looked over his shoulder at his younger sister. Nreelia shook her head. "I'm not going with that…freak."

The intruder scowled. "You will come with me, or your dear big brother will not even live long enough to regret it."

"You can't threaten her like that!" Moonstrike shouted at him. "You said it yourself: Let her make her own choice!"

"I am," the stranger responded in a relatively calm voice. "I am letting her choossse whether she will come or not come, and endanger you in the process."

"Just try and touch me!" Moonstrike dared, lifting his sword higher. The stranger quickly stepped forward and swiped with the back of his hand, connecting with the side of the boy's head. Moonstrike was thrown sideways and his head struck the hard ground.

Through the darkness clouding his vision, he saw the stranger reach out, grab his sister by the arm and drag her away. He shouted, "Nreelia!" and struggled to his feet. He tried to run after them, but when he lifted his foot to take a step, he crashed back onto the ground. He groaned helplessly and lay still.

Nreelia repeatedly tried to resist her captor's pull, digging her heels into the ground and trying to grab anything within reach with her free hand, but the stranger simply jerked her along and she had no choice but to follow. He finally stopped and raised his other hand. A swirl of dark clouds quickly formed on the ground in front of them. Nreelia desperately lurched backward, wanting to be anywhere but in there. But the stranger's grip was firm, and he simply picked her up and stepped into the swirling portal. As she felt herself sinking into the darkness enveloping her, she felt she would be lost forever.

* * *

THE END! MUAHAHAHAHA!

...No one believed that, right? Good. Because there is way more to this. Quite a cliffhanger, though. I always liked to do those. Review if you want.


	3. The Search Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own FlyFF or the robed girl. Moonstrike belongs to my brother.

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Chapter 3: The Search Begins

Moonstrike opened his eyes, groaned, and pushed himself off the ground. He looked up and saw that night had fallen.

He rubbed the bump on his head, grimacing and wondering how long he had been unconscious.

A small chittering noise came from his right. He looked down and blinked. Nreelia's egg sat on the ground, hopping up and down and making its chittering sound.

If whatever creature was in there was this energetic now, what was it going to be like after it hatched? He wondered as he picked it up carefully. It seemed to be trying to tell him something.

His eyes widened.

"Nreelia!" _That creep still has her! _He thought in alarm.

And he could do nothing about that now. He put the hopping egg on the ground and let his head sag, scowling at the ground. He should have known that… that thing was coming for his sister. She'd told him she had heard him, hadn't she? And he had brushed it aside. _How could I be so stupid?_ He thought angrily and slammed his fist onto the ground. _It's all my fault she's gone._

His head suddenly lifted and he got to his feet. He grabbed his backpack and started the walk to Flarine. The egg hopped after him, chattering furiously. He stopped, picked up the egg, and placed it in his pocket.

"You and I are going to find Nreelia."

* * *

In Flarine, Moonstrike was beginning to wonder why he had bothered coming here. Few in the city listened to him, and those who did listen didn't believe him.

"Why bother asking anyone for help?" Moonstrike asked himself, fisting his hands in his hair. "Nreelia and I were the only ones who ever saw that guy. It's hopeless."

"Do not say 'hopeless', my friend."

Moonstrike spun around and saw a completely unfamiliar blond-haired girl in a red cloak. He asked her, "Who are you, and why are you calling me your friend?"

The girl smiled, "I call you a friend, because you need help, and I think I can give it. You are looking for your missing sister, correct?"

"Yes," Moonstrike answered slowly, looking at her suspiciously. "How can you help me?"

"I've heard you tell your tale to the townsfolk, and I am a storyteller; I know fiction when I hear it. I also think I may know the creature who accosted you and your sister. If you wish to find him and rescue your sister, this little hint will help."

She leaned in close and whispered, "Follow the light. No matter where it leads, it is the right path to your goal."

Then she turned and walked away.

Moonstrike watched her go for a few moments. Then he turned and walked the other direction, out of the town. He didn't look anywhere but straight ahead, which was why he didn't notice the girl stop walking, look over her shoulder, and smile after him.

* * *

If you don't know who the robed girl is, she appeared in Flarine one year for Halloween and offered to tell you a scary story. If you reached the end she gave you a red umbrella that made a really effective weapon. I liked the whole "Mysterious storyteller" thing, so I borrowed her for my story.


	4. The Portal

Don't know why I'm updating this. I guess I just feel like updating stories.

Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

* * *

Moonstrike stood in a plain, wondering for the fifth time if that girl hadn't simply tricked him into wandering all over Flaris as some twisted practical joke. _If that's the case,_ he thought._ She is really going to regret it. _He scowled and walked to the nearest mountain. Suddenly, a flash of light appeared behind him. Startled, he spun around and saw a swirling circle of light before him. The girl's voice echoed in his mind.

"_Follow the light."_

Swallowing hard, he took a step toward it.

"_It is the right path to your goal."_

He reached out and touched it. His fingers tingled.

"_No matter where it leads."_

An arm of light reached out, wrapped itself around Moonstrike's torso, and gently lifted him off the ground into the swirl of light. He disappeared inside it, and all traces of the light vanished.

The red-cloaked girl stepped out from behind a nearby tree and bowed her head with her eyes closed.

* * *

Moonstrike didn't know what was happening to him, but the girl's voice floated through his head, saying something new, _You are closer to finding your sister now than ever before._

_I'll trust you,_ he decided. _It looks like you've been right so far. _

An image of his sister's face appeared in his mind. Her golden eyes were wide, frightened, and searching.

"I'll find you," Moonstrike said, determined. "I'll save you if it costs me my life!"

The adventure had just begun.

* * *

...Oh my gosh, this is short.


	5. Dark Plans

Chapter 5 and end of Part 1. We get a few hints about why Nreelia was kidnapped and who I made the Mysterious Robed Girl into.

* * *

In a room filled with shadows, a sinister figure stood, listening to his right hand man's report.

"We are almost ready, your highness. We have secured two of the required artifacts, and our finest spies are hunting down the third. We think we'll have it in a matter of a few years."

"Very good, Goarsak. Do you have any sort of bait to draw out the beast? The artifacts will be useless if the beast won't come out of its pit."

"Yes, Meech Draken just recently returned with a young female from one of the human worlds. She's sure to draw out the beast, no doubt about it."

The tall figure nodded. "Sounds like it was accomplished easily…too easily. Draken didn't have any witnesses?"

Goarsak paused and swallowed hard before continuing, "Well…he did mention a boy that…um, objected to Draken's taking the girl. But he was rendered unable to follow...so Draken reported. One of our pathway guards did mention seeing a boy that fit Draken's description being carried down a path to this dimension."

The figure's scowl grew deeper as Goarsak continued.

"The guard said he tried to stop him, but the intruder must have entered through a light portal, because our guard couldn't touch him and was forced to let him pass."

The figure roared angrily, flung out a fist and smashed the head of a nearby statue, one that resembled a robed girl.

"That cursed storyteller…she has escaped, hasn't she?"

Goarsak gulped, wondering how he was going to answer the question and keep his own head intact.

"Er…well…y-y-yes…yes, sh-she has."

His master roared, enraged, and launched a bolt of darkness from his fingertips. Goarsak ducked, and the bolt struck a pillar in the back of the room, blasting out the middle section.

"Send out more spies to hunt down the storyteller. Continue the search for the third artifact. And do it now, before I destroy you!"

Goarsak nodded and left very quickly.

The being turned to the statue whose head he'd just smashed and said, "You must think you're very smart, wherever you are. You probably think you'll get a few creatures to join with you and try to stop me again. Ah, but you're sadly mistaken, I'm afraid. No one will fall for your stupid 'true stories'. I suppose you told that boy how to find my dimension, and you are the reason for his coming here.

"I wonder if you know just what you have done. This isn't one of your feel-good little stories, silly girl. You think you have sent a boy to become a hero…you couldn't be farther from the truth. He will be destroyed, and it will be your fault. I thought you cared more about humans than to send them off to their deaths with false hope like this. Oh, well, I will find you, and you will pay personally for your mockeries. Be ready for it. It won't be long."

Back in Madrigal, the girl in red nodded, since she had heard every word. "I will be. And we'll just see who's mistaken. Your prisoner will be free."


	6. Yorrn

The Leren Mountains of Flaris: to say it was risky to venture there without a friend was an understatement. Home of the fierce creatures called Lawolfs, with their sharp teeth and efficient hunting abilities, the Leren Mountain ridge was a dangerous place for anyone to go alone.

No one had told Nrylin that. Well, actually they had, mainly her friend Monrillan. She just hadn't listened.

Nrylin climbed one of the smaller mountains. She had been sent here by a girl in Flarine whose older sister had lost her puppy. Loyah had said the dog had first been found in the Leren Mountains.

Nrylin raced along the edge of a ravine that bordered the valley scanning the area for anything small and furry and that didn't have overlarge teeth. Her head swiveled one way, then the other as she spotted two things almost at once. The first was a puppy romping in the grass about five feet away from where she was standing. The second was a gigantic Lawolf.

At first Nrylin wondered if Monrillan was right and she had gone crazy after all. A normal Lawolf was certainly dangerous, but usually wasn't much bigger than she was, whereas _this_ brute was maybe ten or twenty times bigger than she. Nrylin gulped and darted toward the little dog, slowing down several paces before reaching it. She knelt and gently picked it up, keeping an eye on the giant Lawolf.

Taking a deep breath, Nrylin raced past the monster and all the other Lawolfs. She made it out of the valley without a problem, other than one Lawolf who apparently decided she had come too close and chased her halfway to Flarine before giving up and going home. When he did, Nrylin finally stopped to catch her breath and looked down at the puppy.

"Loyah had better be happy to see you," she remarked.

* * *

A half hour later, Nrylin was walking proudly into Flarine. It took her only a few moments to find a food shop run by a couple young girls and present the puppy to the younger one.

"Oh, my, Yorrn!" Loyah exclaimed. "Where did you find him?"

"Right where you said he would be," Nrylin answered with a grin. "The Leren Mountains."

"Oho, I knew it!" Loyah crowed happily. "Thank you! Welcome back, Yorrn!"

She laughed some more and carried the excitedly wriggling puppy away. Nrylin smiled and turned to leave when Loyah called out, "Oh! Wait! I forgot! Losha will want you to have this." She handed Nrylin a heavy sack of penya, the currency of Madrigal. "Thank you again – so _very_ much!"

Nrylin weighed the bag in her hand, trying to guess how much was in there.

"You're welcome," she answered smilingly, and Loyah returned the smile and strolled inside.

She added the contents to the bag she carried at her hip and ran to find Monrillan.

* * *

As Nrylin expected, Monrillan was shocked to see her alive and in one piece. She thought the look on his face was simply priceless when she showed him the reward she gotten for her good deed. His eyes goggled and his mouth dropped wide open.

"Wha…wha…wha…" he squawked.

Nrylin put the penya away and grinned, "I believe someone owes me a little apology."

"All right, I'm sorry. But you could have been killed!"

Nrylin shrugged. "I could have, but I obviously wasn't. I'm standing right in front of you, aren't I?"

"Yeah, but still…"

"Look," Nrylin interrupted. "I went to the Leren Mountains, and I came back alive. That's what matters, right? Now forget it."

"All right, already," Monrillan muttered. "So, how much is in that bag, anyway?"

"I haven't counted it yet," Nrylin answered with a shrug. "Let's see."

They walked together to an empty tent, sat down, and counted the penya.

"One hundred thousand penya!" Monrillan exclaimed in astonishment. "That girl pays well!"

Nrylin laughed and climbed to her feet, gathering the penya back into the bag and putting it away. "She does, but I just did that because it was a good thing to do. The penya's just a bonus."

"Good to see someone has their priorities straight around here."

The two kids jumped to their feet and spun to see who spoke. A tall hooded girl in red robes stood nearby.

"Who are you?" Nrylin asked.

"A teller of tales," She answered. "Meet me at Madren Town. I will tell you a story there that will change your life."

"Madren Town?" Monrillan asked nervously. "But that place has been desolate for years. It's infested with monsters! Why would you—"

"You'll see." The girl turned and walked off, disappearing into the crowds and leaving the two vagrants to wonder.


	7. The Story

The two friends crossed the bridge crossing the chasm that separated Madren Town from the rest of Flaris just as the sun was setting. They stopped and looked around. There had to be at least twenty buildings there, but the only residents were a huge pack of Demians, one of which was literally as big as a house, and a large red scorpion-like creature.

Nrylin searched around for the girl in red. Monrillan looked left, forward, and right.

"Well, I don't see her. She must not have made it. Oh, well, let's go," he said quickly and turned in the direction of the bridge. Nrylin reached out and grabbed him by the scruff of his jacket before he could go an inch.

"Let's look harder," she suggested. "Unless you want to go back alone."

Monrillan grumbled, but followed her into the town.

In the dim twilight, the deserted town took on an eerie atmosphere. Nrylin wouldn't admit it for the life of her, but she really was staring to feel afraid. Well, not exactly _afraid_ – more like uneasy.

"Over here."

Both friends turned. The robed girl had taken down her hood and was beckoning to them from her place beside a pile of crates. Nrylin ran over to meet her, followed closely by Monrillan.

The storyteller sat down on the ground and gestured for them to do the same. Nrylin sat and asked, "So, what is this story that will change our lives?"

"And why did we have to come all the way to Madren Town to hear it?" Monrillan added, sounding clearly annoyed.

The storyteller answered, "The story I will tell you is of two young vagrants, like yourselves. They lived in this very town, years ago, before it was deserted. They were brother and sister, Moonstrike and Nreelia.

"They lived a fine life for adventurers. They battled monsters and explored Flaris. Then one day, a creature from another world came. He kidnapped Nreelia and struck down her brother. They were long gone by the time Moonstrike came to. He swore that he would not rest until his sister was free again and went searching for her. To this day, no one in Madrigal has seen or heard from either of them."

The storyteller sighed and bowed her head. Nrylin and Monrillan stared at her, hardly believing it.

"That's it?" Monrillan said at last. "The end? Huh, some story."

She looked up sharply, eyes sparking. "That is not the end. I tell you this story because it is true. I spoke to Moonstrike myself. I hoped you would help them and provide a good ending."

Nrylin shot to her feet. "I _will_ help them!"

The storyteller smiled. "Thank you. And you?" She turned to Monrillan.

Monrillan squirmed uncomfortably. It was clear that Nrylin was going on this quest whether or not he came along. He sighed and stood up. "We're gonna get slaughtered," he said. "But—"

"You said 'we'! You're coming!" Nrylin exclaimed in delight and hugged him tightly. Monrillan was suddenly perfectly all right with going. The robed storyteller smiled as well. "Very good."

"So, where do we go?" Nrylin asked.

"Well, you are searching for a kidnapped girl and a lost boy. Where do you think?"

They thought over that until Monrillan guessed, "The River of Weeping?"

"Seems as good a place to start as any," The girl replied, standing and lifting her hood over her head. "I must go now. Godspeed."

"Thank you," the vagrants answered as they turned and ran to the bridge. The girl stood still and smiled after them.


End file.
